NPLW Round 8, 2022: Belconnen United FC vs Tuggeranong United FC
The Blue Devils made their return to McKeller Park this weekend with one goal in mind; to get back on winning terms for their home supporters and to build some momentum to hopefully kickstart a string of victories. After mixed results for the last month which have seen them stabilize in fourth place and slowly watching the top of the table slip away, the reigning league champions would need to put themselves in a prime spot to make up for lost ground getting into the second third of the season, and this would be a great opportunity to get started on that goal.
After a big win in their last game at McKeller Belconnen would be hoping to keep the goals flowing in abundance, while their opponents for this weekend, a struggling Tuggeranong side, would be hoping to build off the back of their first victory of the season last weekend against Wagga City Wanderers, and with Belconnen’s turbulent form they must have surely headed into the game with the feeling an upset could be on the cards, and do the world of good for their campaign.
Belconnen managed to get a goal very early into the contest when a low shot from in-form winger Tatum Mazis was curled past the keeper and crept into the bottom left corner of the goal in the 3rd minute of the game.
A very nice through ball into a great run by winger Keira Bobbin sent Belconnen through on goal again four minutes later, but the keeper closed enough distance that although the ball was sent past her, it could not curl back around enough to avoid clashing with the post and bouncing back into the keeper’s reach. Bobbin used a sharp turn and some quick feet to get another chance a minute later, but this shot floated the wrong side of the goal.
Belconnen held the vast majority of the ball in the opening ten minutes of the proceedings, and managed to get a second goal through some great teamplay as a pass from midfield once again split through a hole in the defense and sent Bobbin through once more, this time electing to square it to one of the two support runners who were there to complete a three on one numbers advantage, with Olivia Bomford taking full advantage to poke it home for a second 13 minutes into the half, Bobbin picking up her second assist of the game.
The passing display continued to entertain the crowd, with striker Tahlia Backhouse providing an excellent cross a minute later which Bomford got on the end of and almost grabbed a second in as many minutes, and then appearing again a moment later to put together a nice shot of her own that won the home side a corner. Although the corner was deflected out by the defense, the Blue Devils maintained possession and kept the pressure on, Bomford sending a curled shot from outside the box that the keeper could only half clear, giving Mazis the opportunity to strike and bag her second of the game, the home side going to a comfortable 3-0 lead after fifteen minutes.
Fullback Leah Carnegie almost went on to the scoresheet when she got on the end of a cross-field aerial ball and used her height to head the ball over the keeper’s reach, but the ball narrowly went over the crossbar, however the officials deemed that the keeper had gotten her fingers to it for a corner.
The corner found Tahlia Backhouse free directly in front of goal for a header, and she managed to nudge it past the keeper for Belco’s fourth.
Only a minute later, Belconnen used another very well weighted aerial ball to send Keira Bobbin away again, and this time she steeled her nerve and held it at her feet as the keeper was dragged out, before sending it past her and into the top left corner for her first of the game to go with her numerous assists.
Two assists wasn’t enough though, as she once again caused turmoil from the wing a few moments later, sending Olivia Bomford through again who employed the same tactic of dragging the keeper in close before sending it past her into the left corner for Belconnen’s sixth goal of the half.
The home side continued to showcase very good vision and teamplay, sending Mazis through with another great pass into space, but the keeper managed to meet the shot and bring it to a stop.
Tuggeranong slowly managed to get a more stable grip on the game as the first half moved into it’s final stages, managing to limit Belconnen’s attack to half chances and beginning to string together a few nice set plays, but were unable to turn it into a major chance before the half came to a close.
With a first half like that Belconnen would surely be proud of their performance so far, a very solid showing in defense and some tremendous examples of how strong their attack can be when everyone is firing on all cylinders.
Their attack stole the show in the first half, earning themselves over fifteen shots on target in the first half and managing to capitalize more than a third of them to full effect, all within the space of 30 minutes, which had all but secured the three points already with more than two thirds of the game to spare.
In so doing, the Blue Devils became only the second team all season to lead a game by six goals or more by halftime, an achievement they share in company with the current leaders Canberra Croatia FC, a statistic that should definitely encourage them.
Belconnen looked to keep the momentum right from the start of the second half of the match, sending several more shots on target that forced the opposition keeper to stay focused. They won back-to-back corners in the 51st minute but couldn’t find a clear chance. Olivia Bomford very nearly grabbed her third of the game with a powerful strike from just within the 18-yard box, but the shot crashed into the crossbar and back out.
There was a mishap in the backfield for the home side which led to Belconnen keeper Jayla Murphy being out of position, and although she could get a hand to the chip shot that got sent her way, she couldn’t get the ball fully under control and had to struggle to chase it back, narrowly managing to keep it from bouncing over but Karen Malewski had chased it through and was there to nudge it past the line for Tuggeranong’s first goal of the evening.
Belconnen made a double substitution in the 64th which saw both Katie Woodman and Tia Burrich enter the fray.
Some quick feet from midfield nearly won the home side a seventh goal but the shot was snatched up by the opposition keeper, who looked much more confident than she was in the first half.
Reilly Yuen very nearly managed to get on to the scoresheet after one of the aerial through balls that worked wonders for the Blue Devils in the first half sent her a good run, but once again the Tuggeranong keeper got enough on it to push it onto the crossbar for a corner which was easily dealt with.
Yuen made another great opportunity in the 76th when a nice turn got her away from her defender and gave her the time and space to send another shot in, but the ball crept to the left and crashed with the sidenetting instead.
Belconnen continued to press their attacking prowess, creating a multitude of chances, but there was no breakthrough seventh goal to make up for the one they conceded early in the half. The home side created more than 25 shots on target by the end of the game compared to the visitors 3, so the performance was still a big positive to take away into the next few weeks, including their big match next weekend in the Federation Cup final.
Winger Keira Bobbin was awarded the Belconnen United Player of the Match, sponsored by the Cook Grocer, for her very promising performance, having a hand in four of Belconnen’s goals.
